In many laser applications, stable laser pulses are required. In some cases, control of pulse-to-pulse timing is important, while in others, variations in pulse energy or pulse duration can be unacceptable. In addition, some laser systems can be configured to provide repeatable laser pulses in a narrow range of pulse repetition rates, so that applications that require variable pulse repetition rates typically require several sources. In some processing applications, unstable pulse outputs appear as missing pulses or double pulses and both are undesirable. Methods and apparatus that provide stable laser pulses over a wide range of repetition rates are described below.